


Around the Water Cooler

by SterlingAg



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Co-workers, F/M, M/M, Summer Internships, office workers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-01-06 21:02:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1111487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SterlingAg/pseuds/SterlingAg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every year, The Shire Travel Agency hosts summer internships for current college students and recent graduates. Aragorn Elessar has been working at The Shire for 12 years now. He started there as a summer intern and never left after falling in love with the company. After the divorce with his wife, he'd begun to slowly lose interest in his life and became apathetic in his work. One day he's suddenly put in charge of the interns of his department and he has to babysit all of the snot nosed college kids. However, there's one very interesting intern that he just can't get away from.</p><p>Oh, and did he mention that he might have slept with the intern after drinking too much at the welcoming party?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Around the Water Cooler

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first shot at a LOTR fanfiction. I hope you guys enjoy it!

The piercing sounds of the alarm clock filled the stale apartment air. A tired groan joined the noise to become a chorus of morning sounds. Emerging from under the wrinkled sheets came a rough hand. It searched the bedside table for the clock, adding a few thumps to the melody of noises. When the hand finally found its mark the alarm cut off abruptly. A heavy sigh came from the hand’s owner and the sheets shuffled gently as they were moved aside. 

“6 o’clock already?” The man gruffed. He pushed his arms in to the air, releasing a pop from his spine. He groaned as he worked the sleep out of his limbs and stood. His mouth opened wide and his lips stretched when a yawn escaped him. He smacked his lips a couple of times as he scratched his head.

The walk to his bathroom was short. His apartment was old and small. The ceiling dripped when there were heavy rains. There was no cable tv. He had to take quick showers because one never knew when the building’s water heater would quit. He was also pretty sure the previous tenant of the apartment next to his had been murdered. But he had never asked because ignorance is bliss.

When he got out of the shower, his medium length hair dripped droplets of water on to the yellowed linoleum floor. He toweled his hair off before wrapping the thin article around his waist. The mirror creaked as he opened it to reach in to the shelves cleverly hidden behind. His gaze stilled on his razor and shaving cream for only a moment. His hand bypassed them completely in favor for the bright orange bottles on the shelf just below. The pills inside clattered gently. He twisted the cap off and took one dry. Anti-depressants. His doctor had prescribed them to him after his divorce.

His wife Arwen had divorced him about four months ago. They had been married for seven years. Honestly, he still wasn’t exactly sure what had happened. They had sat down to dinner once evening and in the middle of the meal she declared that she was having an affair and was going to leave him. That was it—no explanation, no accusations, nothing. She hadn’t been angry at him for failing her as a husband. The divorce was one of the easiest ones his attorney had ever seen. They agreed on a 60/40 split in her favor which still left him plenty. It was strange because he wasn’t angry at her or anything either. He supposed they had simply fallen out of love.

Morning sunlight was beginning to stream through his curtains when he stepped out of the bathroom. He stretched again, his muscles now relaxed from his hot shower. Most of the kinks in his body were gone but his neck was still stiff. Maybe it was time to buy new pillows. He could do that after work. The coffee pot gurgled to life when he pushed the button to brew. He pulled open his fridge and was slightly despaired to find it reasonably empty. But he did have bread and jelly and he was never one to deny toast. He poured himself his first cup of coffee and added two sugars. After taking a few warming sips, he went in to his room to get dressed.

New York City was already awake and bustling when Aragorn left his apartment building. The summer heat was taking no prisoners even so early in the day. The past few days had been the hottest of the year. But it was the humidity that made one’s clothes stick to them, just as Aragorn’s shirt was doing now. He supposed he should be glad that he didn’t have to wear a suit jacket to work. His only concern now was if he would be beyond the point of no return with sweat by the time he got to work. The entire situation could be circumvented if he just hailed one of the many taxis whizzing by. But his work was only a little more than ten blocks from his apartment, so there wasn’t much point to getting a cab.

The buildings loomed around him like great steel giants. Aragorn remembered when he had first come to New York for business school. The hustle and bustle of the city had been such an extreme change from his quiet farming town in Wisconsin. But now this place was Aragorn’s home. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

The doors slid open with a gentle whirring of the motors. Aragorn was immediately hit with a blast of cool air. A breath of contentment escaped him. He fluttered the front of his shirt to create a draft against his warm skin. Eliza, the receptionist, looked up when he entered the building.

“Good morning Mr. Elessar,” she greeted with a bright and easy smile. He leaned against the counter.

“Morning Liza,” he replied, “Can you believe how hot it is out there already?”

“It’s an injustice, sir.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, “One day you will understand this elder’s pain.”

She laughed gently to himself, “I’m sure of it.”

He flashed a grin at her before tapping the tip of her counter.

“See ya around, Liza.”

“Oh! Wait Mr. Elessar!” Eliza called as he began to walk away. Aragorn frowned and stopped, turning to look back. Eliza rummaged around her desk. Her small heels clicked against the tile floor.

“You nearly forgot your name badge,” she said and held out the item. His eyebrows furrowed as he took the badge from her. Name, department, number of years with the company.

“Liza,” he began, “Why do I need a name badge today?”

“Don’t you remember? Today is the first day the summer interns are working.”

He stood there for a moment and then let out a long, tired groan.

“It’s going to be a very troublesome day, isn’t it?”

“Most likely, sir.”

He shot her an unappreciative look. With another sigh, he slipped the badge over his head.

“I should have skipped work today,” he grumbled as he walked over to the elevator.

When the elevator reached the ninth floor, the lift dinged twice to signal its arrival. Aragorn took a deep breath and straightened his name badge just as the doors opened. With the silver doors no longer creating a barrier between him and the rest of the world, he was really able to take a gage of the situation. Nervousness and anxiety hung like dark clouds in the air. Aragorn stepped out of the elevator. A few of the interns turned their heads to look at him, but their gazes didn’t linger for too long. 

Many of them were the stereotypical intern. College students in dress shirts just a little too big for them, blouses that sat just a bit too low. It really was a shame that some girls thought that a little bit of sex appeal could help them get a job. A few years ago, Aragorn might have fallen for it. He shook his head He was a much different man now. He continued to distractedly look over the interns as he walked to stand next to his co-worker, Gimli. Just as he was about to the desk, his eye caught sight of the intern that stuck out from the rest of them.

This intern was a little bit older than the rest. He looked like he might be a few years out of college—maybe 24 or 25 years old. He only looked out of place because his clothes reflected a person who was confident in themselves. The dark brown knit vest fit well over his light forest green dress shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. While others had pants that were a bit wrinkled and a little short, this particular intern’s khaki pants were the right length and even had a crisp seam from them being pressed. The polished leather shoes tapped against the tiled floors in the only evidence of his nervousness.

Not only were his clothes impeccable, his physical appearance was very put together as well. His skin was fair and still held its supple youthfulness. No hair was on his chin and he was very presentable. His hair was the lightest and most fine blonde Aragorn had ever seen. It was long but clean, pulled tightly back in to a medium height ponytail. It didn’t look feminine or unprofessional in the least. Perhaps that air of professionalism was also enhanced by the glasses that sat on the man’s nose. They were a smart, black rectangular frame. It was the right shape for his face and accented his crystal blue eyes.

“Hey,” Aragorn said as he leaned against Gimli’s desk, “Who’s the Armani model over there?”

“Which one?” Gimli looked up from the papers on his desk, “Oh the long haired blonde? Let’s see,” his gaze returned to the profiles on his desk. He rummaged around before he pulled out the profile.

“That would be one Legolas Thranduilion,” Gimli said with a bit of difficulty. He handed the paper clipped resume to Aragorn who began to scan the information on the paper.

“Thranduilion?” Aragorn murmured as his brows furrowed in slight confusion, “Is that the same as the largest weapons manufacturer in the world?”

Gimli shrugged, “I would assume so. Honestly, how many Thranduilions can there be in the world?”

Aragorn grunted his agreement.

“If that’s so, why wouldn’t he get a job there?”

“Who knows?” Gimli replied with slight exasperation, “I just hope he doesn’t get a big head about him because of daddy’s name and the fact that he’s a little bit prettier than any man should be.”

Aragorn blinked at Gimli before he looked down at the resume. There was a photo attached—a simple passport photo. He looked up to compare the photo to the person. As if sensing his gaze, the intern looked up from the welcome speech given by the company chair. Aragorn blinked, startled by the bright blue of the intern’s eyes. They stared at each other and for some reason Aragorn couldn’t take his eyes away. The intern raised his eyebrow expectantly at Aragorn.

“Aragorn!” Gimli hissed as he elbowed the man.

“Ow! What?” Aragorn hissed, finally tearing his gaze from the young blonde. 

“The chairman called all the department heads to the front to introduce themselves to the interns.”

Aragorn frowned, “Why?”

“God, did you really not go over any information of this summer’s internships?” Gimli rolled his eyes, “You’ll be in charge of the interns in our department!”

“Sweet Jesus,” Aragorn grumbled as he stood from his chair. He moved to the front of the room where the other department heads were standing near the chairman. The other heads introduced themselves and spoke briefly about their expectations of the interns and then it was Aragorn’s turn.

“Man this is such a pain,” he mumbled to himself, making a few of the interns closest to him relax a little, “Name’s Aragorn Elessar—just call me Aragorn or whatever,” he scratched his head.

“I’m the head of marketing and advertising. Our home base is right here on the ninth floor so if you’re with me, you won’t have to relocate after this little shindig. Well, as far as my expectations go I guess I just want you to try your best and learn as much as you can. It’s fine if you don’t do things perfectly right out of the gates—that would be ridiculous. There are a bunch of guys here that can help you and answer any questions you might have. So feel free to ask them. And yeah, that’s it I think. Honestly I had totally forgotten about all of this and I’m not prepared. I’ll have more for you tomorrow as far as duties and responsibilities and schedules go. Today will basically be a day to get acquainted with the department and the building so don’t be too freaked out. We’ve all been where you are so don’t get too scared of these old guys.”

His easy way of speaking seemed to calm a lot of the interns. Even if they weren’t in his department, the interns now felt more at ease here at The Shire Travel Agency.

“That was very well said Aragorn,” the chairman said, “We’ll have a talk later about not being prepared for this in my office. Now, please follow your department heads to the elevators to get to your designated areas,” he said and dismissed the interns.

Aragorn moved back over to stand next to Gimli’s desk as the interns all shuffled towards the elevators. He hadn’t noticed before, but the intern’s name badges had the same color lanyard as their department head. His lanyard was white—how boring—and he looked up at the few interns remaining with white lanyards. His dark blue eyes found the black frame glasses and discovered his lanyard was white as well. That would explain why Gimli had the intern’s resume. He grabbed the stack of seven or eight resumes and quickly scanned them for a certain piece of information.

“All right listen up,” he called, demanding the attention of the left over interns, “Welcome to Marketing and Advertisement. We’re some of the easiest going workers here at The Shire but that doesn’t mean our job is the easiest. In fact, it’s one of the most crucial parts of the entire business. We joke and play around but we still get our work done and it’s damn good work too. “

He gestured with a wave of his palm to the handful of employees lingering on the floor, “There are thirteen of us total on this floor including myself. You’ll each be assigned to a pair of workers to shadow for today. They’ll show you the ropes and give you the basics. From then on you’ll be helping them with their work.

“At the end of the summer, each intern will have to do a small presentation. It can be focused more on marketing towards businesses or advertising towards potential customers or even a mixture of the two. We’ll be available for advice and instructions, but you’ll mostly be on your own. Past presentations and records are available on the fifth floor and can be checked out. I don’t know how it will work just yet, but you can probably just leave your name and department, say you’re an intern, and they’ll give you the materials you need.

“Anyway,” he let out a big breath and stretched his arms, “That’s still a long way away—you’ve got three months here. We’ll start the introductions to the other members and then get everyone paired up. I notice you’re all old enough to drink, so today after work we will be going as a department to officially welcome you all to the family. Gimli, you start!”

“Why do you always pick on me?” Gimli whined with a friendly smile, “Well I’m Gimli—you can call me Gim if you want,”

His voice drifted off as Aragorn let out another breath and settled in to his relaxed stance against Gimli’s desk. Everyone in the office introduced themselves as Aragorn let his thoughts wander. His eyes closed for a few minutes and he concentrated on relaxing. He had probably been told about this sometime last month, but since the divorce his mind had been a little scattered. Being reminded that he had to babysit a bunch of twenty-somethings was not his way of starting the work day. As the last of the employees were introducing themselves, Aragorn opened his eyes again. He was startled to see blue eyes in black rectangular frames looking curiously at him. The intern—Legolas—also startled slightly and quickly looked away, the tips of his ears turning the softest of pinks. 

He wasn’t sure why, but Aragorn felt a little swell of happiness settle in his chest and a grin placed itself on his lips.

The Blue Police Box was the bar that the M&A Department always went to when they had department parties. One of the workers was family friends with the owners of the place, so they got a great discount on drinks. It was a couple hours in to the welcoming party and Aragorn had already had a few drinks. It had been a long time since he had just gone out with the guys and had a drink. Seeing the interns all unwind and act more their age was also nice to see. He smiled to himself as he thought about his batch of interns this summer. They were all good and smart kids and he knew that they would be a big help around the department. It would be sad to see some of them go when the internship was over, but that was always how it went. Some stayed on and others took their experiences and ran with them. All of the above situations were great and Aragorn couldn’t ask for more for his interns. 

Someone at their table cheered and drinks were taken once more. Aragorn didn’t even taste the beer anymore, just felt his slide past his tongue and down his throat. It was a sure sign that he had probably had one too many. But tonight was a night to let go and have fun—so he ordered another. Gimli had his tie around his head like a headband. A few employees and interns were laughing just a little too loud. A few interns were teaching an employee some form of drinking game. Everything was looking good from what Aragorn could tell. 

He ordered yet another drink and drank it down in a few minutes. He would definitely need to call a taxi to take him back home after this. It would probably be safe to walk, but then again the room was starting to spin. Walking probably wouldn’t be a good idea at that point. Aragorn was going to have one hell of a hangover in the morning, but he honestly couldn’t care less. He was having a good time and enjoying spending the night with his employees and interns. What more could he ask for?

 

Aragorn had been right. He had the worst headache when he came back around to consciousness. The sounds of cars outside told him that the world was waking up for another day. He yawned, his jaw stretching open wide. He really had no desire to go to work today. Honestly, his employees could handle the interns without him. His bed was crazy comfy and super warm. How had he even gotten home last night? He must have called a cab, or someone had called one for him. He rubbed his temples and slowly woke up fully. 

He hummed contentedly and pushed his arms in to the air. After releasing the air in his shoulders, he pillowed his head on his hands. Turning his head to the right, he opened his eyes. The light caused a sharp pain behind his eyes, but he fought through it. The blurriness of sleep clouded his vision for a moment before he blinked it away. His eyes fell on the figure sleeping next to him.  
Their long blonde hair was fanned out around their head and shone like a halo in the early morning light. Thin but smooth lips were parted as gentle breaths escaped between the organs. In sleep, their face was smooth and looked angelic in its purity and innocence. 

Aragorn blinked, staring at the man sleeping beside him. His eyes widened slightly and he turned his head sharply to stare at the ceiling.

Oh god.

Had he slept with one of the new interns last night?

Wait—had he slept with one of the _male_ interns last night?

 

_119 days until Aragorn Elessar falls in love._


End file.
